Jiuxi

Chapter 719 [A Cup of Turbid Wine]

The harem, Yong'an Palace.

Queen Ning leaned on the couch, watching with a smile as the female official played with the four-year-old prince Li Daoming.

As the eldest son of the emperor, Li Daoming was conferred the title of Prince of Yanning, and in a few years he would be promoted to prince.

The current emperor has only one son and two daughters. Li Daoming is the son of the empress, so he is almost a sure bet for the crown prince.

"Your Majesty is here!"

Loud shouts from the eunuchs were heard outside the palace.

Queen Ning's heart tightened, and she quickly stood up and walked out to greet him.

She just felt it was a little strange. Normally, if the emperor came to Yong'an Palace, he would definitely send eunuchs to inform him in advance. This was the first time such a situation had happened.

When she arrived outside the palace, what caught Queen Ning's eyes was the emperor's extremely gloomy face, which made her heart suddenly hang in the air.

"Greetings to Your Majesty."

Queen Ning suppressed her panic and performed the ceremony with the palace maids as required.

Li Daoming, who was only four years old, knelt on the ground and said crisply, "Greetings, Father."

If it were in the past, Li Zongben would definitely praise the prince and gently ask the queen to stand up. However, today he only left two cold words and went straight into the hall.

"no."

Hearing these two words, the palace maids and eunuchs were all silent and dared not make a sound.

Queen Ning was very confused and a little worried. She looked at the female official and asked her to take the prince to the side hall. She then ordered everyone else to leave before she walked into the hall.

"Your Majesty, please have some tea. This is the Bamboo Sea Golden Tea that I asked the eunuch to prepare."

Queen Ning was not in a hurry and poured tea for the emperor herself.

Li Zongben raised his hand to take the teacup, put it back on the table, and said slowly: "Han Zhongjie was defeated, and more than half of the 80,000 troops were killed."

Queen Ning was stunned.

As the emperor's bedfellow, they have supported each other for many years and have respected and trusted each other. She is one of the few people in the world who understands the emperor's mind best.

She knew why the emperor wanted to push for the Northern Expedition at this time and why he let Han Zhongjie take charge. She originally thought that everything would go smoothly, and the good news from the border some time ago was indeed exciting. She didn't expect that after just over ten days, this would be the result.

"Your Majesty, how could this be possible?"

Queen Ning came and sat down beside the couch, asking with a worried look on her face.

A cold light flashed in Li Zongben's narrow eyes, and he said coldly: "You ask me, who should I ask?"

Queen Ning choked.

After more than six years of marriage, she gave birth to a son and a daughter for the emperor, and did her best to help him manage the inner chambers. Now she is in charge of the six palaces and has never been looked down upon by him.

Li Zongben seemed unaware of his own problem. He was now immersed in an extremely depressed and angry mood.

When he first heard the bad news of the defeat in the Imperial Garden, he was filled with panic. When he was discussing countermeasures with his ministers in the Chongzheng Hall, his panic and anxiety reached its peak. Therefore, he approved Xiao Wangzhi's request without much thought. Even though he heard the sarcasm in Li Jingda's words "Your Majesty is wise", he did not pursue it on the spot.

Since he had no experience in dealing with such dangerous situations, how could he remain calm when a mountain collapsed in front of him?
The reality that Jingzhou was in danger and Jiangnan was in trouble weighed heavily on his mind, making it almost hard for him to breathe. He was like a drowning man grabbing the last straw and only wanted to get through the current difficulties. Other problems had to be put aside temporarily.

However, on the way back to the harem from Chongzheng Hall, Li Zongben gradually came to his senses. Xiao Wangzhi's analysis might be reasonable, but his main goal was still to help Lu Chen fight for power!
Empress Ning had never been treated so coldly before. Her eyes were slightly red, and she tried to comfort him with sadness: "Your Majesty, things have come to this point. Please take care of yourself."

"hehe."

Li Zongben smiled expressionlessly, and then said: "I am fine. With so many loyal ministers and good generals, how can I not be fine?"

Queen Ning became more and more confused.

Li Zongben briefly recounted the scene in Chongzheng Hall, and then said in a deep voice: "Look, these people are very good at taking advantage of opportunities! What a loyal minister who never misses any opportunity to seize power. I knew he had evil intentions!"

Queen Ning frowned slightly. She naturally knew that the emperor was talking about Shanyang County Duke Lu Chen.

The Great Qi Dynasty had a rule that the harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs, so she could only say as tactfully as possible: "Your Majesty, this is a time when we need people, so please be patient."

“Be patient…be patient…”

Li Zongben suddenly grabbed the teacup and smashed it to the ground.

With a "bang", the white porcelain teacup broke into pieces. The eunuchs outside who heard the noise looked at each other in dismay. Even Yuan Yuji did not dare to enter at this time. After all, there was a palm print left by the emperor on his cheek.

"Your Majesty, calm down."

Queen Ning quickly stood up and said timidly, "I shouldn't have said anything nonsense."

"Nothing to do with you."

Li Zongben still had some rationality after all. He slowly exhaled and laughed at himself, "You are right. What can I do if I can't be patient? Han Zhongjie and Liu Shouguang seem to be useless. They can be generals but not commanders. There are only two and a half people in the court who are capable of turning the tide."

"Even if I didn't let Li Tianrun return home to retire, his body is no longer able to command a high-intensity war. At most, he can only come up with some ideas. As for Xiao Wangzhi and Lu Chen, they are in the same boat. It doesn't matter who we use."

"Well, as you said, just be patient."

Li Zongben almost uttered the last sentence word by word through his teeth, and the expression on his face was extremely complicated at this moment.

There was anger, fear, and a bit of unspeakable resentment.

Queen Ning roughly understood his feelings, and could understand the darkness and despair caused by this fruitless effort. However, from her point of view, if the emperor indulged in such emotions, Da Qi would probably face even more troublesome problems.

Thinking of this, she mustered up her courage and said, "Your Majesty, if the Duke of Shanyang harbors resentment and is unwilling to do his best in this time of crisis, then..."

Although she hesitated to speak, Li Zongben fully understood the profound meaning of her words.

There is a saying that goes, "If the ruler treats his subjects like dirt, then the subjects will treat the ruler like an enemy."

After realizing this, Li Zongben's face turned red and white, and the panic overwhelmed him again. If he still tripped Lu Chen at this time, or just used some small tricks that were not worthy of being shown on the stage, causing the young man and even Xiao Wangzhi to be completely disappointed, he would probably have to face countless Jing Dynasty elite soldiers crossing the river to the south.

Li Zongben quietly clenched his fists, but finally had to slowly loosen them.

A strong sense of humiliation filled his heart. He forced out a smile that was uglier than crying and said with difficulty: "The Queen is right. I... I know what to do."

He slowly leaned back on the couch, as if all his strength had been drained away.

……

South City, Duke Wei’s Mansion.

When Xiao Wangzhi got off the carriage, he saw the central door in front of him was wide open, and Li Liangyu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, was personally greeting him at the steps.

After the greeting, the two entered the magnificent Duke's Mansion.

As soon as he entered the main gate, Xiao Wangzhi narrowed his eyes suddenly.

The whole house was covered in white, with a desolate and sad atmosphere.

Li Liangyu whispered, "Duke, my father received the news from Jiangbei two hours ago and ordered the palace to hang a white memorial."

Who are we commemorating?

Needless to say.

Xiao Wangzhi sighed silently and nodded.

When they arrived at the front hall, there was already an incense table and offerings, and Li Tianrun stood with his back to them.

The former Grand Commander of Jingzhou turned around, leaning on a cane in his right hand, his weathered face looked solemn and his deep eyes were filled with grief.

Why sad?

Because among the tens of thousands of soldiers who died on the battlefield, nearly half were elite soldiers led by Li Tianrun himself.

Xiao Wangzhi was not surprised that Li Tianrun would know the war situation in Jiangbei in time. Although he had resigned as the Grand Marshal of Jingzhou, that was the place where he had worked for more than ten years. As long as he wanted, he could know Liu Shouguang's every move at any time.

"My dear brother, I am sorry."

Xiao Wangzhi's lips moved, but he could only utter these four words in the end.

Li Tianrun invited him to take a seat and said slowly: "Most of us in the military cannot escape the fate of dying on the battlefield. In many cases, this is a blessing, and in other cases, it is a misfortune. As the saying goes, a kind person cannot lead an army, a righteous person cannot make money, and a good person cannot be an official. This is the truth passed down by the sages, and I think it will not be wrong, but -"

Xiao Wangzhi listened quietly.

Li Tianrun raised his eyes and looked ahead, and said softly, "It shouldn't be like this."

Hearing these four words, Li Liangyu's eyes couldn't help but turn red.

Xiao Wangzhi sighed and said, "What a pity, pitiful, and hateful."

"I am sorry for those soldiers."

Li Tianrun lowered his eyes and continued, "If I had known this would happen, I would not have agreed to the late emperor appointing him as the crown prince."

Xiao Wangzhi certainly believed that Li Tianrun held such a position in the late emperor's heart.

Among all the important ministers of the previous emperor's dynasty, Li Duan trusted only Li Tianrun absolutely. Even with Qin Zheng, he had means to check and balance him. He had no defense against Li Tianrun. Therefore, Li Bingxue had an extraordinary status in the capital. After kicking Li Yunyi and seriously injuring him, it was Li Shizhi who came to apologize in person.

But now it's too late.

Xiao Wangzhi couldn't bear to see him so sad, so he changed the subject and said, "I had previously petitioned His Majesty to order Lu Chen to take charge of all military affairs in Jiangbei, and His Majesty has already agreed. I think Jingzhou will not be in danger, so you can rest assured, my dear brother."

"Although Lu Chen is young, he is more experienced than Han Zhongjie. I naturally trust him."

Li Tianrun was silent for a while, as if he had made up his mind, and said: "Please tell Lu Chen to prepare the betrothal gifts after the battle is over."

Xiao Wangzhi was shocked.

Although this sentence is simple, the profound meaning it contains is of great weight.

Although the Feiyu Army has been transferred to the Dingzhou Military Governor's Office, and three generals including Xu Gui have also defected to Lu Chen, how could Li Tianrun's foundation in the Jingzhou Military Governor's Office be so simple?
Li Tianrun added: "I only have two requests for him, to be kind to Bingxue and to be kind to the people of Jingzhou."

Xiao Wangzhi said sternly: "Don't worry, my dear brother, I will definitely convey the truth."

After a while, Xiao Wangzhi left the Duke's Mansion, while Li Tianrun stood in front of the incense table, looking at the curling green smoke, and waved his hand to let Li Liangyu leave.

He suddenly couldn't help coughing, his pale face was full of misery, and then he picked up the pot and poured a glass of wine.

At this moment, what emerged in his eyes were the more than ten years of war and those lively and simple young faces.

"I led you to the battlefield, but I did not live and die with you. This is a disregard for the friendship between comrades."

"Many brothers have passed away over the years, but at least they died for a good cause and lived up to the name of Da Qi soldiers. Only this time is different."

"You must have a lot of grievances in your hearts. I know it's all my fault. I didn't fulfill my original promise. I owe you."

"Wait a little longer, I will meet you in the underworld."

He raised his cup, saluted to the north, and then slowly poured a cup of strong liquor onto the ground.

"Brothers——"

"farewell!"

The sound is like crying, and also like the cry of a lone wild goose.

Endless sorrow.

(End of this chapter)